Loop forming member for sprocketless film handling apparatus



Feb. 11, 1941. H. N. FAlRBANKs LOOP FORMING IIEHBER FOR SPROCKETLESS FILM HANDLING MPARATUS Filed July 22, 1938 FIGJ.

FIG.Z.

KS INVENTOR W/w BY a.

W ATTQRNE s Patented Feb. l1, 1941 UNITED STATES LOOP FORMING MEMBER FOB SPED-CRET- LESS FILM HANDLING APPARATUS Henry N. Fairbanks, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y.,`a corporation of New Jersey Application July zz, 193s, serial No. 220,678

7Claims.

This application is a continuation-impart of my copending application, Serial No. 80,164, nl ed May 16, 1936. The present invention relates to an improvement in loop-forming members for a sprocketless nlm handling apparatus and more particularly to stationary or nxed guide members which cause the natural resiliency of the nlm to form loops therein.

One of the common expedients for simplifying the construction of a nlm handling apparatus is the omission of a nlm sprocket for moving the usual preformed nlm loops. Film tensioning control means are a well recognized substitute for the nlm sprocket and such nlm control means l5 have previously been provided as resilient memsbers or spring arms;

The primary object of the present inventionI Another object of the invention is the provi-` sion of a pair of loop-forming studs at each end of the nlm gate in a sprocketless nlm handling apparatus and these studs respectively cause i'ormation of resilient nlm loops between-the' nlm rolls and the respective ends ofthe nlm gate.r

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure which follows.

' The above and other objects of the invention are realized in a sprocketless nlm handling ap*- paratus in which loop-forming members are fixed adjacent each end of the nlm gate and are located slightly to displace the nlm strips between.

l the nlm rolls and nlm gate from their straight line paths so' that the inherentresiliency of the nlm causes the formation of a nlm loop in -said placed from thenlm plane of the gate in the .v

u apparatus oi the magazine type with its cover removed and containing a nlm magazine which is equipped with nxed nlm engaging members according to the invention. l

Fig. 2 is a frontelevatlon of the nlm magazine whichv is of the reversible or invertible type.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a modined'and preferred form of the nxed nlmguiding members within the nlm magazine.

Fig. 4 is a perspective viewo/f the preferred form oi the resilient means for the nlm gate.

Although the invention is to be explained with respect to a motion picturecamera and nlm magazine therefor, it is clear that the invention is equally applicable to any type of sprocketless nlm handling apparatus.

'I'he motion picture camera .which is illustrated by way of example only'comprises a' casing Ill having an edge wall Il upon which an objective i2 is mounted. A iront'plate I3 is provided with an exposure frame Il and forms the front wall of the magazine chamber I5 Within camera casing I0.

'I'he nlm magazine comprises a magazine casing li having a side wall i1 and a lateral wall i8 extending around the edge of side wall I1. The front lateral wall I8 is provided with a pair of exposure aperturesis and 2li, each having enlarged portions I9' and 20' through which the nlm perforations 2i in the nlm E are available. An auxiliary lateral wall 22 is mounted behind the front lateral wall I8 oi the nlm magazine and is provided with an exposure aperture 23 in registration with exposure aperture I9 and is provided with an exposure aperture 24 which is ein registration with exposure aperture 20 in the front lateral wall Il. Y

The nlm supply roll 25 is wound upon a nlm core 20. Said nlm core 28 is providedv with an axial hole 2l'1and is rotatably mounted upon a spindle 21 which is fastened to side wall I1 of the magazine casing it. One endof nlm core 2B is provided with an annular groove 28. 'I'he magazine casing I8 is enclosed by a cover 29 from which an annular collar is formed, said annular collar Il nts into the annular groove 28 oi core 2t to form a light-tight joint between core 2l and cover 29. e The take-up nlm core Il is provided with an axial hole 32' and is rotatably mounted upon a spindle 32 which is fastened to the nlmv magazine cover 2i. One end o! said core 3| is provided with an annular recess 33, see Fig.. 2, which nts over an annular collar 34 formed from the side wall l1 of magazine ,casing I6.

f The camera contains a spring motor, not shown, but in driving 'engagement with a pinion gear 35.- Said pinion gear 35 carries a friction disc 36, see Fig. 2, for-frictionally engaging the end of take-up film core 3| which is available through the opening within annular collar 34 of side wall il. Thus the take-up nim core 3| is frictionally driven to take up the nlm F.

'I'he nlm is conducted from the supply nlm roll through a iilm loop F' past the exposure apertures |9, 20, 23 and Z4 and throughthe lower nlm loop F to the take-up nlm core 3|. The

extreme ends of nlm F may be attached to cores l 26 and 3| in any conventional manner such as by slots 26 and 3| therein. One form of the film gate, see Fig. 1, may comprise a pressure pad 31 which is resiliently urged toward the apertured portion of auxiliary lateral wall 22 by means of a spring member 38 having a pair of tabs v39 engaging each side of pressure pad 31 and supported upon a pair of posts I0.

A nlm advancing mechanism may enter the nlm magazine through the enlarged portion I9' of exposure aperture I9 to engage the perforations 2| of the nlm F. Such nlm advancing mechanism may comprise a claw arm ,4| which is pivotally connected \t0 an eccentric disc 42 and which is resiliently urged into said enlarged portion I9 and vinto engagement with nlm perforation 2| by means of a spring 63. Each stroke of the. intermittent nlm advancing mechanism advances the film F a distance of one frame with respectto `the. exposure aperture I9. L

If such' intermittent movement of the nlm is transmitted directly to the supply nlm roll, the inertia of the supply nlm roll, especially when said roll is full as shown in Fig. 1, will react to overload and seriously retard the nlm advancing mechanism. Also theadvancing mechanism will .jerk the nlm roll 25 to cause over-running of the nlm roll and the formation of several loose convolutions therearound with consequent variation in the load upon the nlm advancing mechanism. If the intermittentlyladvanced nlm is directly wound onto the frictionally driven take-up roll, the take-up drive /win slip intermittently and may draw the nlm through the gate. All of these conditions individuallyl and/or simultaneously cause unsteadinesspf the nlm at the-gate and have been previously overcome bythe pmvision of spring members which bear upon the nlmV strips between lthe nlm rolls and respective ends ofthe gate. J However, according to the present invention compensation for such conditions of unsteadiness canl be obtained in a more reliable and much simplen'manner asKwill now be explained. s 1

According to the' present invention,V a

`guiding member is nxed adjacent one end of the nlm gate to engage the. nlm strip or upper nlm 14s wlmi loop Ff to cause the natural resiliency in thenlm to form aresilient loopbetween the gate and the supply nlm roll. Such a nlm guiding member may be rovided as a stud I4 fastened to a frameV the; magazine vcasing |l.` Similarly, a\ second stud 'is fastened also toframe ll and is located adjacent the other end of the nlm gate to engage the lower nlm loop 1""- and to cause the natural resiliency in the nlm to form a resilient' loop. Each of said studs 4I and Il may be undercut as at M. and' It", |respectively, see

Fig.v 2, so that engagement of'said studs M and 4B with the F will not abrade or scratch the ,central areas thereof.

The purpose of the upper loop forming stud 44 is to engage the nlm strip between the supply nlm roll 25 'and the nlm gate and to displace I such nlm strip from the straight line path therebetween so that the natural resiliency of the nlm causes the formation of the upper nlm loop F'. The intermittent movement of the nlm F at the gate reduces the size of loop F to some such position as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 and creates an increasing resilient tendency to rotate the supply nlm roll 25. As the supply nlm roll 25 isl rotated by such tendency the nlm again by virtue of its inherent resiliency returns to the position F' shown by full lines in Fig. 1. The conditions. encountered between the nlm gate and the take-up nlm core 3| are somewhat diiferent. It is also desirable to have the takeup rotate evenly and without an'ecting the nlm movement at the exposure aperture. At the end of the nlm advancing stroke, the lower resilient nlm loop is created as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1 and this resilient loop is Wound upon the take-up nlm .core Il. It ymay be that the lower stud I6 provides some snubbing action as the lower resilient nlm loop F is reduced as shown by the full lines in Fig. 1. Obviously, the snubbing effect on the nlm around stud 46 will be increased as the lower nlm loop F" is decreasedor taken up by the take-up nlm core 3|. This increase in snubbing action may be enectively employed to overcome the friction in the take-up drive or again the snubbing action may be augmented by the friction in the nlm gate dennitely' toovercome the friction drive of the take-up when there is no slack nlm.

Where provision of a loop forming device of l, minimum friction is of prime importance, such as within a spring driven camera, a precise balance must be obtained between the displacement of the nlm strips F' and F by the loop forming studs from the straight line paths from the nlm gate to kthe nlm rolls and also between the snubbing or frictlonal action of such loop forming studs upon the nlm strips F' and F". Obviously, sharply bending the'nlm strips around the loop forming studs will produce more than enough displacement of the nlm strips so that the inherent resiliency of the nlm will form resilient loops therein but at the same time excessive fricspindle, are located respectively with respectv toloop forming studs 4l and 48 so that the opposite sides of the supply nlm roll 25 and the .take-upnlm roll arebeyond said loop forming studs." In other wordspthe paying-on side of supply nlm roll 25 is above and beyond the level of the loop forming stud Il while the paying-in side of the take-up roll is volutions of eachnlm roll have their opposite f sides beyond theloop forming studs 44 and I6 solthat said opposite sides, or paying-on! and paying-in sides, of the nlm rolls are at all times during the nlm run beyond said studs Il and 46. Anothen factor contributing to loop formation with minimum friction is the location of the studs u and lout of the yfilm plane of the nlm gate and the displacement of said studs Il and 46 from said nlm plane toward the nlm rolls.

`As aresultr of suchrelative locations of the below and beyond the loop forming stud Il. In fact the innermost connlm gate, nlm rolls and.loop forming studs, the nlm loops F and F" may momentarily move out of contact with the studs 44 and 46 so that the reduced friction between the loop forming studs and film is obtained by avoiding sharp bends in the nlm and/or by obtaining only intermittent contact between the nlm strips and said loop forming studs. i

The exact operation and function of said loop forming members are not easily determined but actual tests on sprocketless nlm handling apparatus constructed as shown herein establishedv that the nlm is smoothly and evenly unwound from the supply nlm roll andxonto the take-up nlm roll, that the inertia of the supply nlm roll and action of the take-up drive are compensated by the nlm loops because the pictures taken are very steady, and that thereis an appreciable reduction in friction evidenced by a longer nlm run for a single winding of the spring motor.

The nlm magazine casing I6 may be held in position within magazine chamber l5 b y a plate 41 which bears against the rear edge of casing I6 and which is actuatedby a pair of -springs 46.

The resilient loop forming members of the present invention are particularly Well suited for use in magazine cameras of the cine eight type or in which the nlm magazine is inverted for the second run of the nlm. In this type of magazine the upper stud 44 functions in the manner just described to prevent the transmission of the intermittent movement at the nlm gate back to the supply nlm roll 25, while the lower stud 46 prevents the intermittent movement at the exposure` aperture and the friction take-up drive from having undesirable effects upon each other. Since the nlm rolls and studs 44 and 46 are inverted for the second run of the film, the former take-up roll becomes the supply nlm roll and the stud which formerly caused the formation of` the resilient film loop kto prevent the intermittent and take-up from affecting each other now causes the formation of a resilient nlm loop to prevent the intermittent from affecting the even rotation of the supply nlm roll. At the same time. the stud which formerly 4prevented intermittent motion being transmitted to the supply nim roll now supervises the even winding of the take-up nlm core 3|.

A modified and preferred form of the film guiding membersaccording to the invention is illus'- trated in Figs. 3 and 4. The film rolls and film gate are provided in the same manner as shown in Fig, 1 except that the spring member behind the pressure pad has its extremities arranged so as to perform ,the loop'forming functions. In

this manner the loop formingand gate pressure arrangements are considerably simplified.

Referring nowlto Figs. 3and'4,.a pair of posts 49 are mounted upon the frame 46. The resilient or spring member 66 has side nanges 6I, a pair of integral spring tabsv 52 for bearing against the pressurefpad 5 3, andat each end has a pair of tongues 64 for partially encircling said posts 49. The spring action of the tabs 52 not only holds rthe pressure pad 63 against the film and front f from said nlm gate. ,l 4. In a sprocketless vn1m fixed to pressure pad 63 and extending rearwardly through a bayonet' slot 66 provided in spring member 50. A circular depression 51 may encompass said slot 66.

Other modifications of the invention will be clear t9 those skilled in the art and the present invention is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Having now particularly described my invention what I desire to securefby Letters Patent of the United States and what I claim is: I

for rotatablysupporting a film roll, of a pair of loop forming members, each respectively fixedA adjacent oppositeends of said fllm"gate, each located to engage the film strip which extends between said film gate and the farther side of each film roll, and each arranged to displace said film strip from the straight line paths between said gate andnlm rolls so that the inherent resiliency of the film causes the formation of a film" loop in said film strip, said supports and said nxed loop forming members being relatively located sthat said film rolls are supported with their opposite sides respectively beyond said loop.

forming members.

2. In a sprocketless filmy handling apparatus,

the combination with a mounting means having Y. a wall provided with an exposure aperture, apressure member for holding a film strip across said vaperture and forming therewith a film gate, and a pair of supports on said mounting means each for rotatably supporting a nlm roll, of a pair of loop forming members, each respectively fixed yadjacent opposite ends of said nlm gate, each displaced from the film plane of said film gate toward said nlm rolls, and each located inter -mittently to engage the film strips which extend .between said film gate and each nlm roll and to displace said film strips from the straight line paths between said gate and film roll so that the inherent resiliency of the film causes the formation of a nlm loop in saidv nlm strip, saidsupports and said fixed loop forming members being relatively located so that said film rolls are supported with their opposite sides respectively beyond said loop forming members.

3. In a sprocketless nlm handling apparatus,

the combination with a mounting means having a'wall provided with an exposure aperture, a pres` sure member for holding a nlm strip across said aperture` and forming therewith a film gate, and

a suDPOrt on said mounting means for rotatably `supporting a supply film roll, of a loop forming member fixed adjacent the entrance to said nlm gate, located to engage the nlm stripfwhich extends between said nlm gate and the farther A side ofthe supply nlm roll, and arranged to displace said nlm strip from the straight line` path.

between said gate andnlm roll so that the in- Lherent resiliency of the nlm causes the formation of a loop in said nlm strip and momentarily mov/'As saidfilm strip out of engagement with said loop forming member, saidsupport and said fixed loop forming member being relatively located with respect to each other so that the paying-off side of said supply vfilm roll is beyond said loop forming member-in the direction away handling apparatus,

the combination with a mounting means having a wall provided with an exposure aperture, a pressure member for holding a nlm strip across said aperture and forming therewith a nlm gate, and a support on said mountin means for rotatably supporting a takeup nlm l1, of a loop forming member nxed adjacent the exit from said nlm gate, located to engage the nlm strip which extends between said nlm gate and the farther side of the takeup nlm roll, and arranged to displace said nlm strip from the straight line path between said gate and nlm roll so that the inherent resiliency of the nlm causes the formation of a nlm loop in said nlm strip and momentarily moves said nlm strip out of engagement with said loop forming member, said support and said nxed loop forming member being relatively located with respect to each other so that the paying-in side of said takeup nlm roll is beyond said loop forming member in the direction away from said nlm gate.

5. In a sprocketless nlm handling apparatus, the combination with a mounting means having a wall provided with an exposure aperture, a pressure member for holding a nlm strip across said` aperture and forming therewith a nlm gate, and

a pair of supports on said mounting means each for rotatably supporting a nlm roll, of a pair of posts each adjacent opposite ends of said nlm gate, and a resilient member for engaging said pressure member and including atfeach end a pair of tongues for connection to said posts, each pair of tongues being spaced to engage the margins of .the nlm strip between said gate and respective nlm roll and being located to displace said nlm strip from the straightfllne paths between said nlm gate and nlm roll.

6. In a sprocketless nlm handling apparatus, the combination with a mounting means having a wall provided with an exposure aperture, a pressure member for holding a nlm strip across said aperture and forming therewith a nlm gate, a support on said mounting means, and a supply nlm roll mounted on said support and wound for overshot feeding .to said nlm gate, of a loop forming member nxed adjacent the entrance to said nlm gate, displaced from the nlm plane of said gate toward said nim roll, located intermittently to engage the overfed nlm strip, and arranged to displace the same from the straight line path between said gate and supply nlm roll so that the inherent resiliency ofthe nlm causes the formation of a 'nlm loop in said nlm strip and momentarily moves said nlm strip out of engagement with said loop forming member, said support and fsald nxed loop forming member being relatively located with respect to each other so that the paying-oii side of said supply nlm roll is beyond said loop forming member in the direction away from said nlm gate.

7. In a sprocketless nlm handling apparatus, the combination with a mounting means having a wall provided with an exposure aperture, a pressure member for holding a nlm strip across said aperture" and forming therewith a nlm gate, a driven take-up support on said mountingmeans, and a take-up nlm roll mounted on said support which is rotated forundershot feeding of the nlm strip from said nlm gate, of a loop-forming member nxed adjacent the exit from said nlm gate, displaced from the nlm plane of said gate toward said nlm roll, located intermittently t engage the underfed nlm strip, and arranged to displace the same from the straight iine|path between said gate and take-up nlm roll so that the inherent resiliency o! the nlm causes the formation of a nlm loop in said nlm strip and momentarily moves said nlm strip out of engagement with said loop forming member, said support and said nxed loop forming member being relatively located with respect to each other so that the paying-in side oi' said take-up nlm roll is beyond said loopforming member in the',y direction away from said nlm gate.

- HENRY N. FAIRBANKS. 

